Russia

The relevance of the concept of Greater Europe, stretching from Iceland and Norway in the north to Turkey in the south, and from Portugal in the west to Russia in the east, and the prospects for this concept becoming reality were discussed by Irina Busygina, Professor at the Moscow International Relations Institute (MGIMO) and RIAC expert, and Dmitry Trenin, Director of the Carnegie Centre in Moscow and RIAC member.

NATO Defence Ministers together with their Russian counterpart, Sergey Shoygu, discussed ways to widen their practical cooperation and exchanged views on pressing events on the international agenda, including Syria, during a NATO-Russia Council (NRC) meeting on Wednesday (23 October 2013). “We are doing more together an ever before and counter-terrorism is a centre-piece of our cooperation,” said NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen. READ MORE

The worst, the better – this is what, probably, can be said when analyzing the hysteria which has been raised for the last several weeks in European, and especially, American newspapers regarding hardening of the Russian line towards the states willing to join the European Union. The more clearly Moscow imagines russophobic attitudes of a significant segment of Western elites, the more rational, cold and efficient shall be Russian foreign policy within post-Soviet space. READ MORE

The Arctic region is turning into an area of protracted geopolitical rivalry. This rivalry will not necessarily be expressed in any military confrontation, but rather will take the form of economic, technological and political competition. In this context, the states involved will be ever less prepared to opt for compromise in upholding their national interests within international organizations. NATO’s increasing activity in the Arctic will lead to transfiguration in relations in the area of international security, with new challenges and opportunities emerging for Russia. READ MORE

Russia suspended imports of dairy products from neighboring Lithuania today. The move comes just a few weeks before the EU, whose rotating presidency Lithuania currently holds, convenes with former Soviet republics in Kiev to sign a number of association agreements that the Kremlin strongly objects to. READ MORE